Saturday, February 02, 2008

The Twitter Bowl

I'm not making any predictions about the big game tomorrow except two, which have nothing to do with the game itself:

1. The Ad industry will prove it can still get us talking (for better or worse)2. Much of that conversation will get documented in real time on social applications such as Twitter

That's right, along with the Ad industry—Twitter will once again display it's uncanny ability to seize the momentum of an event and act as a conversation ecosystem. Remember, this isn't mass communication, it's niche communication. It's less important that there are millions of conversations going on about both the game and the Ads—what's important is that for thousands of people, their behavior has been altered. Instead of passively sitting in front of a TV cheering on the game or laughing at the Ads, many of us will actively be tapping away at mobile devices—texting away and connecting with people from all over the globe.

This isn't a good or bad thing—it's just a reflection of how some of us act (and how most teens behave BTW). Do yourself a favor, as you are watching the game tomorrow (or just pretending to watch). Look at the people around the room. How many of them will be fiddling with some kind of mobile device? Yeah—phone calls count too. Point is that tomorrow will most likely be an interesting case study for partial attention. One eye on the game, another on conversations in the room and for some, yet another on remote conversations.

I'll be in all three modes—using Twitter to document my reactions to the advertisements. How can you resist? It's the one time of year where Ads are the most over the top. You can follow me at Twitter here.

And if you're curious about what folks are saying about the Ads in real time—check out Superbowl Ads on Twitter, the brainchild of Jeremiah Owyang.